The Brand New Heavies

@ B.B. King Blues Club & Grill – Show @ 8PM (Doors @ 6PM)

The Brand New Heavies are a British music institution whose unique mix of jazz, funk and soul has lit up the dance scene for well over two decades – and shows no sign of stopping. The founding and ever-present trio of Jan Kincaid, Simon Bartholomew and Andrew Levy on drums/keyboards, guitar and bass respectively had been influential in creating what became known as the acid jazz scene. They have since steered the Brand New Heavies into the current millennium, where they remain as influential and respected as ever.

Their name was homage to soul godfather James Brown, who was once billed as the `Minister of New Super Heavy Funk’. `We supported him at Wembley once,’ guitarist Bartholomew later revealed. `We were soundchecking and James Brown arrives…dressed in this amazing olive green suit with a sort of Kentucky Fried Chicken tie. And we jammed in front of him. He was like “you guys sound great”. It was mind-blowing for us because he basically invented funk.’

The Heavies first made their reputation on the Eighties London club circuit and were standard-bearers for acid jazz, the slower-paced, more soulful counterpart of acid house that also spawned the likes of Jamiroquai and Galliano.They have now been a part of the British music scene for over a quarter of a century. And, while they’ve always looked west for inspiration, we can be justifiably claiming them as our own. Let’s leave the last word to Jan Kincaid who, when asked for the secret of their longevity, said this:

`There is something unique about the Brand New Heavies that has to do with the make-up and, at the same time, is greater than that. We’ve been together so long that we have the grounding and the history. We started as a live band and did it hard, just playing clubs, pubs, anywhere that would have us for a long time before we got a record deal. We weren’t just centred around a record, and that’s the way it should be.’